The Writer’s Toolkit: Twitter Tags All MG Writers Should Keep in Mind

So you’ve started writing your book, attended a conference and met lots of other writers. You are energetic and inspired. What’s next? What do MG writers do every day other than write or revise that work in progress? Answer: they look at hashtags.

What is a hashtag? A hashtag is a group of twitter posts about the same topic. There are literally hundreds of useful hashtags for writers and potentially an unlimited number since more hashtags are being created every day.

Why do you need to look them? All writers know how important it is to plot, write or revise that work in progress. It’s also important to continue to learn about the craft of writing and the process of getting published. So what is a busy writer to do? You could buy books on writing or research various topics on your own or you could follow certain hashtags on twitter.

Think of hashtags as your continuing education on the subjects of writing, technique, querying, publishing tips, marketing and inspiration.

Many articles about hashtags will give you 10, 40 or 100 options writers should follow, but let’s be real. Time is limited. You need to get back to that work in progress. So, follow the number of hashtags you are likely to look at every day. Try a different combination until you get the top five that works for you. Here is my top five list as a middle grade writer.

#SCBWI- best for the big picture and to remind you of important things like conferences.

#MGLit- best to see what other MG writers are up to, connect, learn, and be inspired. Good references to interviews and blogs.

#Pubtip- best for advice from agents, editors, and writers about what to do and not to do.

#Querytip- best for specific advice about what to put in a query or # Writetip- depending on what stage of the process you are at.

#MSWL- best if you want to search for agent, editors or publishers.

What hashtags do you find most useful?

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3 Comments

Thanks,
Really love what you’re doing for MG authors like me. Am curious about which social platform you find is best for connecting with potential readers, including parents, teachers, and librarians who recommend books to MG readers.

The best platform is a blog. Why? Because Facebook, Twitter, etc. can change their algorithms, or suddenly begin charging, but you own the real estate on your blog. You can decide what to post, etc. The issue, of course, is that you have to build a following and it’s a bit harder in the beginning with a blog. But if you provide content that readers, parents, teachers and librarians want – they’ll come! I’d rather have 10 people come to my blog because they’re interested in my content that 100 Facebook friends who just liked my page because it was in their feed.